market transformation

The term Market Transformation gets tossed around a fair amount in the energy efficiency sphere, but what does it actually mean? And how can it be fully achieved? Our friends over at NEEA, a fellow REEO and respected authority on the subject, devised a definition for the term with equal parts elegance and accuracy:

We know the future will be bright for the residential lighting market, but just how efficient will it be?

Residential lighting has long been at the heart of ratepayer-funded energy efficiency program portfolios. In New England, residential lighting measures have produced over 30 percent of all efficiency program savings. The large savings potential along with the relatively low barriers to getting bulbs into sockets makes lighting the classic low hanging fruit.

We are back at it after LightFair International in New York City last week – what a show! This year marked a new frontier for the DesignLights Consortium with our own booth at the most future-focused conference and tradeshow in the lighting industry. With high traffic at our booth, we saw many familiar faces, made new connections and encountered some of the most innovative technologies the field has to offer.

While you probably won’t find Rooftop Units trending on Twitter anytime soon, you will continue to find them on roofs of commercial buildings working tirelessly to keep you cool. And, like many of their HVAC counterparts, rooftop units are due for an energy efficiency overhaul.

While the oil bills from heating your home are still fresh in your mind.  While you still seethe from the snow and slush, I want to offer a suggestion.

Air-Source Heat Pumps.

We’ve been singing it from the rooftops since the release of the 2015 Residential Lighting Strategy back in December: the residential lighting market will undergo a massive transformation as long as programs and supporting standards continue to propel it towards efficiency.

LEDs are steadily moving to the forefront of retail shelves as energy efficiency programs continue to financially support their widespread adoption. With the cheapest ENERGY STAR certified LEDs costing about $10 each, efficiency program rebates are necessary if prices are to come close to other alternatives. Strong signals, however, are indicating that the LED invasion is beginning to gain some ground.

Residential lighting has been one of the longest standing measures in efficiency program portfolios. With such a long history, you may be surprised to hear that it’s a rapidly-evolving space with significant advancements, especially in the past several years.

Market transformation, with respect to energy efficiency in products or buildings, involves continually advancing product baselines as new, more efficient products and technologies become available.